Audio Description

During this year’s WATCH DOCS, we will present a documentary acknowledged with the special mention of the jury of the 10th festival, entitled “Nowhere in Europe”, directed by Kerstin Nickig, with audiodescription – prepared especially for the vision impaired.

Kerstin Nickig's film presents a synopsis of the trials of Chechen refugees persecuted in their own country, who strive to reach the magic Schengen zone at any price. When they ultimately succeed, legally or not, gangrenous listlessness replaces feverish flight. They spend years in the bunks of various refugee centers, submitting piles of applications, and constantly grappling with the curse of temporariness. With no documents and language skills, they are unable to find any work while welfare doled out by the state supports only passive vegetation. In the face of stories presented in the film, governments seem helpless and the larger problem - in 2008, Chechens were the second largest group seeking asylum in the EU.

The screening with audio description in Polish will be held on December 15, at 4.30 PM in Iluzjon cinema.

"In order to understand a film… you have merely got to hear it. Well then, please sit down and make yourself comfortable. Close your eyes and listen attentively. In the darkness you can hear a lullaby, the swoosh of wind, steady breathing, a soft creak. Suddenly – a fearsome scream. What has just happened? Is really the sense of hearing enough?
The people who are blind and want to go to the cinema confirm that it is not. That’s why, in order to take true delight from watching films they attend screenings with audio description – additional verbal description of the most essential elements of the picture, emitted between the dialogues.
Thanks to audio description, visually impaired people gain access to information which for others are available in a visual form. Moreover, as this method is used in television, cinemas, and museums, it allows more people to participate in the cultural life. Now, due to the cooperation of the University of Warsaw, the Catholic University of Lublin, the Jagiellonian University, and Siódmy Zmysł Foundation films with audio-description will be also screened during WATCH DOCS festival… because access to culture is also a human right!"